Appeals court won't halt Michigan straight-party vote ruling

LANSING — Michigan residents still may be allowed to use the state's long-standing straight-party voting option in the November election after a federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a request to keep intact a new ban on the practice.

A panel of judges from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled 3-0 against Secretary of State Ruth Johnson's motion to stay an injunction. U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain in Detroit blocked the Republican-backed law last month, saying an increase in long lines would disproportionately burden blacks in the November election, which would be the first in which the ban would have gone into effect.

Attorney General Bill Schuette said his office would file an emergency appeal for a review by the full appellate court. State lawyers have said election officials will begin setting ballots by Aug. 30.

"Michigan is no different than the 40 other states that have eliminated straight-ticket voting," Schuette said in a statement.

Straight-ticket voting is popular in Michigan cities with large black populations. It has been on the books for 125 years and has been a common choice in some counties that are steadfastly loyal to Republicans, too.

Wednesday's ruling is the latest related to voting rights around the country. Federal judges recently staved off tougher photo ID requirements in Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin, though some are being appealed.

Gov. Rick Snyder and majority GOP lawmakers enacted the straight-party voting ban in January, saying the option is not commonplace nationally and getting rid of it would lead to a better-informed electorate. But federal Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote Wednesday that the state "offered only vague and largely unsupported justifications of fostering voter knowledge and engagement."

Comparing Michigan to other states is not "apples-to apples," she added, because clerks have said Michigan ballots have more candidates than elsewhere and the state does not allow no-excuse absentee voting or other early voting.

The court also discounted arguments that eliminating straight-party voting would reduce the likelihood of voters skipping the nonpartisan section. Judges noted that graphics representing each party will remain on the top of the ballot, which they said would likely cause confusion for voters who think they can still cast a straight-party vote.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Mark Brewer, former head of the state Democratic Party, on behalf of three people and a union-affiliated group.

Moore and the other two judges, Ronald Lee Gilman and Jane Branstetter Stranch, were appointed by Democratic presidents. Gilman emphasized that Wednesday's decision was not the end of the case but said he saw no "grave harm" in letting the straight-party option remain for November.

"In reaching this decision, we are limited to the admittedly one-side proof available at this stage of the litigation because the Secretary, for whatever reason, did not timely submit any proof contradicting the plaintiffs' evidence," he wrote.

Gilman said conditions that exacerbate the burdens that would be created by prohibiting straight-ticket voting "might not always exist in Michigan."

The law included $5 million for additional voting booths and tabulators after clerks raised concerns that removing the option would cause longer lines. It also kept the issue from going to a public referendum; voters in 1964 and 2001 preserved the straight-ticket option.

Straight-party voting has been abolished by nine other states in the last 20 years, including Wisconsin and Illinois.

Michigan Democrats have accused the GOP of seeking partisan gain, particularly in down-ballot races for the state Board of Education and university boards, which Democrats have won despite Republicans controlling the executive, legislative and judicial branches.